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WEST VALLEY CITY — Police were looking for two men who shot a man and may have been involved in an earlier robbery in another city.
Shortly after midnight Wednesday, officers discovered that a 32-year-old man had been shot in the arm at 2935 W. 4100 South, said West Valley Police Lt. Matt Elson.
The man and an 18-year-old woman had been heading west on foot on 4100 South and passed some cars on the street. Two men got out of one car and asked for the woman's purse.
"They just kind of laughed it off and continued to walk when they heard a couple of gunshots and the guy was struck in the arm," Elson said. "It sounds like they didn't take them too seriously and kind of blew it off and … unfortunately … someone got shot."
The victim was "conscious, alert and talking," Elson said, and was taken to a local hospital for treatment.
It was unclear whether the woman's purse was grabbed. The shooters drove off in a silver or grey passenger vehicle. One man was described as a tall, thin, black male in his mid-20s with a shaved head, wearing a gray shirt and dark pants. The other was described as a thin man, 5 feet 6 inches, black with dreadlocks or long curly hair, wearing a black bandana, black hoodie or sweatshirt and dark pants.
These men may be connected with a robbery that occurred in West Jordan just before the shooting, Elson said.
"It's uncanny. The suspect descriptions are almost identical," he said.
Around 11:45 p.m. in West Jordan, two men were walking near 2600 W. Sugar Factory Road, near 8300 South, when two men got out of parked cars, "approached the victims with handguns and demanded the property," said West Jordan Police Lt. Travis Rees.
"They turned over their stuff and then called us right away," he said.
The men took off in two dark passenger cars, one with green mudflaps, after taking a backpack and personal items, including a cellphone, from the victims.
"It appears that they were working together and just looking for someone walking down the road," Rees said.
While the descriptions of the gunmen in the two incidents are similar, there are distinct differences.
In West Jordan, one man was described as a heavyset Hispanic man, bald, the other medium-build with "long dreadlike-type hair," Rees said.
As of Wednesday morning, investigators were still looking into both situations.
Elson said they "hope catch these folks because, you know this is not a good thing when they're going out and robbing people and shooting at people."
Anyone with information is asked to call police at 801-840-4000.
